Man paralyzed from the neck down walks again thanks to a new medical innovation

Imagine going from being an active individual to not being able to move any part of your body at all. For Chris Barr, that was his reality when life came to a sudden halt for him two years ago. “It’s exactly like it is in the movies where, you know, it’s like a fish-eye lens opening up. And the doctor says -- ‘You’re paralyzed from the neck down. And you had a really bad neck injury,” Chris told “Good Morning America.”

Reach: Good Morning America is a national morning news program that airs on the ABC Television Network. Its website receives more than 1.9 million unique visitors each month. The show covers multiple topics. Recent news story topics include divorce in America, spoiled children, and eating disorders. Features include weather, food, health, technology, home and garden, consumer reports, music, musical guests and political analysis.

Context: Stem cells derived from a patient's own fat offer a step toward improving — not just stabilizing — motor and sensory function of people with spinal cord injuries, according to early research from Mayo Clinic. A clinical trial enrolled 10 adults to treat paralysis from traumatic spinal cord injury. After stem cell injection, the first patient demonstrated improvement in motor and sensory functions, and had no significant adverse effects, according to a case report published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. You can read and view more about this medical research on Mayo Clinic News Network.